Swimmer's career focused on coil-built Cherokee pottery, and she worked to determine the name and function of these vessels.
She was recognized in North Carolina for her contributions to the state's artistic and mountain heritage, and in 2018 she was named a Beloved Woman by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
[5] Swimmer taught herself to form and fire pots after discovering a deposit of clay near her home in the Big Cove community.
At the age of 36, Swimmer began working at the Oconaluftee Indian Village, where Mabel Bigmeat taught her Cherokee pottery-building methods.
Swimmer demonstrated pottery making at the village for more than 35 years, often building more than a thousand pots in a summer season.